Solitary boast

Mother! whose virgin bosom was uncrostWith the least shade of thought to sin allied;Woman! above all women glorified,Our tainted nature’s solitary boast;Purer than foam on central ocean tost;Brighter than eastern skies on daybreak strewnWith fancied roses, then the unblemished moonBefore her wane begins on heaven’s blue coast;Thy image falls to earth. Yet some, I weenNot unforgiven the suppliant knee might bendAs to a visible Power, in which did bendAll that was mixed and reconciled in TheeOf mother’s love with maiden purity